Written by: David Barnett
Illustrated by: Martin Simmonds
Letters by: Aditya Bidikar
Flatting by: Dee Cunniffe
Cover by: Martin Simmonds
Published by: IDW Publishing / Black Crown
The first thing that I noticed in this comic was that it began with a horrendous and over-exaggerated British accent, which serves to set the scene of England and speaks volumes about the character in question – the ghost a dead punk for the 60s named Sid. But I can’t help but this there could have been a better way to show this without pulling me out of the story and getting distracted by trying to read it that accent.
It was slow to start, especially when getting to grips with the more experimental art style, but as I more into it I sped through it and was surprised when it ended as it felt like no time at all. The story is interesting and I could empathise or was intrigued by the characters.
The art style is experimental and at first can be a little eye-watering and especially when they are trying to show the characters surfing online, surrounding them in a neon flurry of words. This all makes sense on a secondary read once you are aware of what is happening but at first it’s confusing and almost put me off this comic.
I will say, however, that a lot of thought has gone into the backgrounds though, incorporating them into being a story telling element rather than solely focusing on the characters. I really enjoyed the use of the background once I got what they were doing, especially on page 19 when Fergie is having to escape his house. Simmonds uses a blueprint background to depict the different stage of him climbing out the window in the one panel.
Something which struck me as odd was that the issue ended with an introduction to Fergie and Sid, as if it’s the first issue which was a little confusing considering that this is meant to be the 6th issue. I’m not entirely sure what that says about the beginning issues.
At any rate I wouldn’t be the first one to recommend this story, but it was interesting and I will admit I am a little curious to see what happens. If you can get past the first few pages and the initial confusion you could really enjoy it.
Overall: 6/10
Victoria Wilton spends the majority of her time writing and creating anything to do with comics, books and art and records her journey of being a wannabe comic creator on her YouTube channel, Twitter and Instagram (@toriteaturtle). In her free time Victoria enjoys comics, movies, video games, being outdoors as well as spending quality time with her partner and two pet rabbits.
